Overview

Three quarterfinals went straight forward and the fourth was a rip-snorter with Australia upsetting host Croatia in a sudden-death penalty shootout.

For the record, USA downed South Africa 3-0, Spain toppled Turkiye 3-0 and Russia bumped off Greece 3-0. Australia lost the fourth set 2-1, necessitating a penalty shootout, which it won in sudden death 4-3 for the 3-2 overall win.

Match Reports

Match 17, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 3 SOUTH AFRICA 0 (8-0, 9-0, 5-0)

USA eased into the semifinals with an emphatic victory over South Africa. The first period was flawless as USA gathered the eight goals necessary for the mercy rule to apply, but only in the last seven seconds. It was similar in the second quarter as goalkeeper Lee Steele scored a double goal to end the quarter, one second from the buzzer. Ryann Neushul scored the first goal of the third set, not until 3:33 on extra. Rachel Fattal scored from the hole for 2-0 with Jenna Flynn at centre, Neushul on counter and Nina Flynn on action late in the period for a clean sweep of the sets.

Match Heroes
Jenna Flynn scored seven and Neushul six for USA.

Stats Don’t Lie
USA missed two of three on extra and shot 29 to 16.

Match 18, SPAIN 3 TURKIYE 0 (5-2, 5-0, 4-3)

Spain had to work harder than the North Americans to gain their semifinal win. Alba Munoz and Elvira Yermakova traded early goals. Carlota Penalver converted a penalty foul and Lucia Rodriguez made it 3-1. Penalver scored Spain’s fourth on counter and Queralt Bertran on extra at 0:23. Dilara Burali pulled one back at 0:09, finishing the scoring at 5-2. Bertran and captain Paula Camus started the second period and it moved to 5-0 when Ariadna Ruiz converted a bonus penalty goal. The third period was tighter with Turkiye on the front foot when Elizaveta Ivanova scored on extra. Penalver countered twice in quick succession and Burali scored on extra for 2-2. At 2:10, Rodriguez made sure of a penalty goal and she converted extra at 1:23. Kubra Kus sent one in on extra for 4-3 at 0:43 and despite a timeout, could not come up with the equaliser, helping send Spain to the semifinals.

Match Heroes
Penalver and Rodriguez netted four each for Spain. Captain Burali scored twice for Turkiye.

Stats Don’t Lie
Spain converted all four extra chances and Turkiye four from six. Spain missed two of five penalty attempts and Turkiye missed one. Both teams shot 21 times.

Match 19, RUSSIA 3 GREECE 0 (5-0, 7-3, 7-1)

Russia continued Greece’s disappointing run in Dubrovnik with a second 3-0 victory in the week after their second-day clash. Russia kept Greece at bay in the first period and it was not until 3:57 in the second set that Greece made the scoreboard when Georgia Karagianni converted extra for 2-1 down. Mariia Makarova and Veronika Yakhitova lifted the margin to 4-1. Olga Lupinogina scored a third goal when she stole the ball and went on counter for 5-1. Greece punched back through captain Kasiana Margariti and then Eleni Paterou on penalty for 5-3. Ekaterina Prokofyeva and Makarova on counter had the set at 7-3. Russia was 4-0 up in the third ahead of Greece’s first goal through Anastasia Bikou from the five-metre throw. Lupinogina led a three-goal charge to close out the period 7-1 and the match 3-2.

Match Heroes
Lupinogina finished with a five-goal haul; Makarova hit four with Prokofyeva and Pystina grabbed a hat-trick each.

Stats Don’t Lie
Russia made one from three on extra and Greece one from four. Greece scored one from two on penalty and the shots favoured Russia 29-17.

Match 20, AUSTRALIA 3 CROATIA 2 (3-2, 2-3, 3-2, 1-2. Pens: 4-3)

Australia upset the huge home contingent when it came through in sudden-death penalty shootout. There was nothing between these teams. Jolie Marsden and Ria Glas swapped the first two goals. Saskia Dunn converted extra for 2-1 and Christina DiGiandomenico had the quarter sewn up at 3-1 by 0:33. Three seconds from the buzzer, Karla Popovic countered for 3-2. In the second set, Samantha Hardingham and Glas traded the first goals in the first 18 seconds — a record in itself. Glas gave Croatia the lead at 3:03 and at 1:27, Marsden bridged the gap. Aussie goalkeeper Jasmine Higgs gave up a penalty foul and then saved Glas’ penalty attempt. Pippa Pedley had her bonus penalty attempt saved. Popovic converted extra for 3-2 at 0:17. Neli Jankovic countered to start the third set. Hardingham responded and at 2:01, Nika Alamat shot from the centre for 23-1. DiGiandomenico levelled on the bonus penalty shot at 0:33 for what was the set winner at 3-2. In the fourth, Hardingham scored first and Jankovic replied on penalty at 1:58. Magdalena Butic was all action for the go-ahead goal at 1:24. Australia’s timeout in the dying seconds yielded a post-hitter, giving the set to Croatia and sending the match to penalties. All six players scored in the rotation, sending it to sudden death. Marsden and Glas had their shots saved. Olivia Mitchell hit the post and Alamat had hers saved. Digiandomenico succeeded with her shot and Jankovic’s shot was saved, giving Australia the penalties at 4-3 and the match at 3-2.

Match Heroes
Hardingham and DiGiandomenico scored a triple each and goalkeeper Higgs stopped 12 shots. Captain Glas netted three for Croatia and Lana Korac made nine saves for Croatia.

Stats Don’t Lie
Both teams made two from four on extra; Australia blew three penalty chances and Croatia one from two. Australia was more accurate with 33 shots to 38.

Day 5 Schedule

Classification 5-8 Semifinals
Match 21. 14:40. Turkiye v Greece
Match 22. 17:10. South Africa v Croatia

Classification 1-4 Semifinals
Match 23. 18:00. United States of America v Australia
Match 24. 18:50. Spain v Russia